


This is the New Year

by jillolantern



Series: Carry On [2]
Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! GX
Genre: F/F, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-15
Updated: 2015-02-15
Packaged: 2018-03-13 03:01:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 23,501
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3365267
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jillolantern/pseuds/jillolantern
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Part 2 of the "Carry On" series. Four years after the events of Demons, Aster has finally gotten back into his career, but a change to his routine causes a change in his and Zane's relationship. Aster's career is taking more and more of his time away from home, and Zane starts to have dark thoughts about what Aster really does while he's away. OC's and Yaoi.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

General POV

It had been four years since Dana Gordon walked into the lives of the students at Duel Academy. Those events that took place during those first few months changed the lives of everyone involved.

Dana stayed in Domino City. She enrolled at the university there to study professional dance. She had participated in ballet for twelve years before that and when she gave up her claim to the family business, she didn't have much else she liked to do. Over the years she was home schooled it provided something for her to do when she was stressed and she loved it.

Her brothers also went on to the rest of their lives. Jason finished his education in London and he decided to move to Domino City to keep an eye on Dana. She insisted that she didn't need him to keep such a close eye on her, but after what happened, he said it would make him happy to stay there. He had just finished an education in social work and was working with the Domino foster care system. About a year after moving to Domino City, he got married to a woman named Jenna Freemont.

Matthew started working directly underneath his parents at the headquarters of Gordon Gaming in London. He called Dana and Jason every so often to make sure they didn't lose touch. When the company made trips out to Domino City, he always made sure he went in order to see his siblings.

Kenzan finished his last year at Duel Academy and during that time he discovered a liking for archaeology and fossils. He enrolled at the same school as Dana to study the science. In the last few months he's started an internship at the Domino City Museum of Natural Science with a curator of fossils for exhibits.

Jaden followed his passion and went into pro dueling once he finished his schooling. It was no surprise to any of them that he'd made a name for himself right away and after four years he was ranked among the top five pro duelists. He does take various classes at the university to keep himself well rounded and so that he can support himself without the Academy to provide his room and board. He's become a wonderful cook and his work ethic has increased immensely.

Jesse reevaluated his future plans after what happened. After what he and Dana had been through in that warehouse, he knew that if he could help it, that would not happen to anyone else. He enrolled at the university to study social work. During his first year in school, he had a part time job at a daycare and decided he wanted to focus on working with children. Through Jason he got an internship.

Bastion's love for math and science led him to enroll in the university to become a higher level math teacher. He hoped to someday teach future scientists and spend time talking with scholars about the subjects he couldn't really talk about with his friends. He and Atticus had become close friends and they got an apartment together.

Atticus wasn't finding anything fit for him at Duel Academy and moved to the city. He worked in various jobs to pay for an apartment until he and Bastion got one together so they could pay the rent together and actually afford a place to live. After two and half years of different jobs, he met the owner of a men's wear shop and Atticus' knowledge of the area got him a well paying job as a consultant for men buying suits for various occasions.

Syrus and Alexis began a relationship after he enrolled at her school. Once the both of them graduated, they got married. Neither of them wanted to stay in Domino City. Alexis wanted to teach at a university in America so they both moved to California and Syrus joined the American pro dueling league. Syrus still kept in touch with his brother.

Zane continued to climb the ranks in pro dueling, and, like Jaden, is ranked among the top five pro duelists. He let Aster move into his apartment while Aster reestablished his dueling career after his break. He and Atticus restarted their friendship after it had been too long since they'd actually been best friends at Duel Academy.

Aster joined the pro leagues again. In no time he gained his previous rank as the number 1 pro duelist, undefeated. He'd not been faced against Jaden yet, who'd been the only person who ever beat him, so they were both dying for their rematch.

Aster POV

Wow, we'd come a long way. In only four years we'd all started the rest of our lives. A lot of us were only twenty-one. We had so much of our lives ahead of us, and I looked forward to every moment of it.

I was sitting at my desk doing some paper work when the door opened. Zane had gotten home from his meeting with his manager. "Hey, Aster."

He took his jacket off and walked over to me and kissed the top of my head. "Any suggestions for dinner." He walked over to the kitchen and looked through the fridge. "I'm in the mood to cook."

I set down the papers I was reading through and stood up, glancing at the clock. "Surprise me. I have to go meet Henry for a meeting. He said it's urgent."

"Oh that's right. You'd mentioned that. Okay, don't take too long. I'll make us dinner."

"It shouldn't take too long." I gave Zane a kiss before grabbing my jacket. "Love you."

He looked at me and smiled. He seemed to never get tired of hearing that. "Love you."

I closed the door to our apartment and slipped my jacket on.

Yes, I was in love with that man in there. And after we first met, who would have believed it could happen? He hated me after our first duel, but somewhere along the way, we actually became friends, and then discovered how much we really cared about each other. He brought out the good in me and I the good in him.

Where our relationship would take us next, I had no idea, but I wasn't worried. It was exciting. We didn't know what life would throw at us next, but at least we knew that we'd always have each other.

I made my way down to my car in the apartment complex garage. I drove down to my managers office, which wasn't too long a drive. I walked through the building to his office and knocked. I heard a faint, "Come in" and opened the door.

My manager, Henry Long, was on the other side. He smiled upon seeing me and stood up to greet me. "Aster. I was expected you."

He shook my hand happily and I took my seat on one side of his desk while her returned to his chair. He was an older man. He was in his seventies and he was going strong. People told him he was getting too old to keep running all over the world with young pro duelists, but he kept going.

"So what did you need to see me about?"

"Ah, yes." He paused for a moment. "Aster, you know I have enjoyed being your manager. You are my favorite client, by far." I did not like where this was going. "But I'm seventy five and as much as I like to deny it, I am getting tired of all the plane trips and so is my wife. I'm too tired to keep running around like this. So I've decided that I am going to retire before the start of the season." That was only a few weeks from now.

I didn't know how to feel. Henry had been my manager since my first pro duel. He's been by my side for six years. I didn't want to work with anyone other than him. I wanted to say something, anything that would get him to stay. He was the only person I was comfortable working with. There was no one who knew me quite as he did, except maybe Zane.

But at the same time, he was right. Seventy five was too old to continue a career, no matter what he was doing. He was right. He needed to stop going all over the world, settle down, spend the rest of his time with his wife.

"You okay, Aster?" I looked up at him.

I sighed. "Yeah, just surprised I guess. Well, I guess I'll need to find myself a new manager."

He chuckled. "Aster, you think I'd leave you completely on your own?" He reached into his desk and pulled out a file. "This is my recommendation to you. His name is Loren Callahan. He's relatively new to the business, but he is incredibly knowledgeable. He is a genius when it comes to publicity and organization. He'll have your next five years planned out in rigorous detail in an hour."

I skimmed through his file. He did seem promising. "He is being requested by various pro duelists from rookies to the top ranks, but he had said that he wants to work with you."

"Really? Why me?"

"Well in case you forgot, you are the number one ranked duelist in the leagues. I announce my retirement and you'd have a line down the block all vying for to be your new manager. Avoid the trouble. Take Loren. I can set a meeting up with him for you so you can get a first impression. You don't need to make a decision right now."

I nodded. "Well, I'd better go see my wife. I promised her I'd on time for dinner. You should probably get back to that strapping young man of yours as well."

I blushed. "Zane is not that young. He's four years older than me."

"Son, when you're seventy five, everyone is young." He smiled. "But you are quite lucky with you such as your Zane," he added with a wink.

"Henry, that's enough." We both laughed. But what he said gave me a nice mental picture. It was of Zane and me sitting on the countryside well into our own retirement. He held my hand as we smiled at each other. Our careers may have run their course, but our life together was still going. In this picture in my brain, we'd lived a great life together.

That would be a great future to live.

I said a goodbye to him and walked out. It wasn't a sad good bye. He may not be my manger very much longer, but this was hardly the last time I was going to see him.

I made my way back to my apartment and Zane was just finishing up dinner. "Hey, Aster. What did Henry want to talk about?"

I didn't beat around the bush. "He's retiring." Zane looked just as surprised as I had been. "And he was giving me a recommendation for a new manager." I looked through the file again.

"Well I guess he is getting old. He could use the retirement. Well, don't think about that anymore." He came over and pulled the file from my hand. He put his face close to mine. "The season is coming soon and that means I won't be seeing so much of you in the coming weeks."

He kissed the side of my head and I smiled. wrapping my arms around his shoulders. "Now, Zane, don't we have a dinner to eat."

He pulled away, remembering. "You're right, but after dinner, we'll continue."

I smiled and walked to the kitchen with Zane to get some dinner, leaving the file on my desk to go through tomorrow.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Zane POV

"He looks like a real great manager." I was looking through Loren's file and I had yet to be less than impressed. He was only one year older than me but he was one of the most sought after managers in the business.

"I don't know. What if he's a complete jerk?"

I sighed. "Aster, if you keep looking for things to be wrong with him, then there's no way this is going to work." He was being as stubborn as he always was. "You can't work with Henry forever. He's not going to come out of retirement just for you."

"He might if I ask him to." He really did not want to welcome this change.

"Just meet him for lunch. Decide for yourself then. And please, please keep an open mind."

He wasn't too happy, but he sighed and said, "Fine. I'll give him a chance."

"Great. Now let's get going. I'll come if you want me to." He looked at me and smiled.

"Yeah. You just want to judge him for yourself."

"You figured me out." I did want to judge him for myself, but I also wanted to make sure that he gave Loren the chance he deserved.

We walked in peaceful silence to the garage. We took Aster's car because he knew where we were going. He drove us there and we made small talk but when we got there, we parked our car and made our way to the restaurant where we'd meet Loren.

There was a man standing near the entrance. He was wearing a nice suit, black, with a white shirt and black tie. He carried a brief case and glanced at the watch on his left wrist. His hair was a light brown and wasn't very long.

That was him. It looked like his picture in the file. Though his attire did make me feel under dressed. Both Aster and I were just wearing jeans and some non formal button ups. He caught glimpse of us and walked over immediately.

He offered his hand to Aster. "Loren Callahan. It is such a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Phoenix."

"The pleasure is all mine. And you can call me Aster." I knew Aster was only being polite.

Then he turned to me. "And it's a nice surprise to meet you as well, Mr. Truesdale."

"Zane." If he was on first name basis with Aster, he could also with me. I wasn't surprised that he knew who I was. Ever since Aster joined the league again, we did nothing to hide our relationship. Apparently we were the most talked about couple in pro dueling and everyone kept requesting that we duel each other, but our managers agreed that we shouldn't. Maybe that would change.

"Well, I must say that I didn't know this was a formal event." I tried to make a light joke.

"I just thought I should look my best when meeting a potential client." He seemed very amiable and so far, my first impression of him was a positive one.

"Well let's get a table." We made our way into the restaurant and we were seated at an outside table. The waiter took our drink orders and left us to discuss our business.

"I have a copy of my resume." He started to reach into his briefcase but Aster stopped him.

"Henry gave me a file with all your information. Don't worry about it."

"Oh. I apologize." He was obviously incredibly nervous. There was no reason for him to be so nervous. Sure Aster seemed really intimidating being the youngest pro duelist when he joined the league, and being the number one duelist at that. But, really, Aster wasn't so bad. That was just his persona.

Once our food got to our table, the mood lightened considerably. Loren told us about his experience and he came with letters of recommendation, which were new. We'd look through those later. Ultimately he was an incredible gentlemen and very professional.

We left the meeting on a positive note. We said a goodbye to Loren and made our way back to our apartment. "So what do you think Aster?"

"I don't know Zane. I'm still not sure about the whole thing."

"Aster, he's perfect for the job. You know it, I know it. Just hire him. It'll save you the pain of interviewing a lot of applicants for the job."

He just looked at me. "I thought we promised to make decisions together."

I sat down next to him. "Yes, Aster. But part of that is offering advice. This is what I think you should do, but ultimately this is your decision. If you decide to not hire him, then I'll stand by you and I'll help you find a new one."

He smiled. "Thanks Zane." He kissed the side of my head. "I'll think about it." Then his cell phone rang. "It's Jaden." He answered it and I got up to let him have his phone call. I went into the our bedroom. On my side of the bed I had a dresser. I opened it up and beneath some shirt is the first drawer was a small velvet box. I held it in my grasp for a moment before opening it. Inside was a small ring.

The one I was going to propose to Aster with.

I had it all planned out. On new years eve, we'd go to the cabin on the countryside that my family owned. There was a lake behind it and it was the most romantic place either of us had ever been. I remembered the day I decided that I wanted to marry him.

Last summer we took a week off to go on a short vacation, just the two of us. We didn't know where we wanted to go, but I told Aster about the cabin and he loved the idea of how private it is.

It wasn't too long a drive, but long enough to assure us we'd be alone. We got there and Aster took a good hour to walk around, taking in the view. He was in awe of every new aspect of the property and when he was done, he said, "You sure we can't stay here forever?"

That night we ate a picnic out by the lake under a large oak tree, per request of Aster.

It was incredibly romantic and once we'd finished eating, we made small talk while looking out onto the lake. He leaned his head on my shoulder and I rested my hand on his side. He jerked a little bit and I remembered. He's incredibly ticklish.

"Ticklish are we?"

"No!" He answered immediately, but i wasn't buying it.

"That's a lie and you know it." I tickled him again and he burst out laughing.

"Zane! S-stop!"

I didn't. He collapsed on his back and I straddled him and continued tickling him.

He was laughing despite all his arguments. It continued for a few minutes and then.

"I love you."

I stopped immediately and just looked at him as if I had been hearing things. I sat up but didn't get off of him. He propped himself up on his elbows, obviously surprised by his own words.

"Um, well, that is to say, I, I mean-"

"You love me?" I got off him and knelt next to him.

He stopped stammering and knelt next to me. He didn't answer right away. He looked me in the eyes for a moment and then brought a hand to my face.

"Of course. You're the only one that I've ever cared about this much. No one has ever brought out so much good in me. And after all we've been through I'd be a fool not to."

He looked away slightly embarrassed. "I'm sorry."

I pulled his face back to look at me. "Why are you sorry?"

"Because I said it too early. You-"

I silenced him with a kiss. He had not said it too early. If anything, we'd waited too long to say it. I had fallen in love with him long ago. It had just taken me this long to truly realize it.

I pulled away and looked him in the eyes again. "I love you too."

He smiled and neither of us needed to say anything. We kissed again. It was the most comfortable feeling I'd ever experienced. I never wanted to do this with anyone else. I wanted to live the rest of my life with this man. He may not be perfect, but I loved him. And he loved me.

"Zane?" Aster had finished his phone call. I closed the box and shoved it back into the drawer. I joined him back in the living room.

"Jaden invited us over for dinner. He wants to have a dinner party. He just found out about them and now he wants to have one. Spirit of Christmas and all that. Honestly, he learns something new everyday. Things that are common knowledge, but they surprise him."

Jaden was an excellent cook. Since he'd been taking those cooking classes, he'd learned some amazing things. And it had been a while since all of us had gotten together like this.

I glanced back to our bedroom and smiled, remembering the ring again. Then I looked at Aster. "Well let's go have fun. We can worry about this manager stuff tomorrow."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Aster POV

We made our way to Jesse and Jaden's apartment. Apartment was an inadequate description considering it was more of a small house. A pro duelist's salary could pay for one. The apartment Zane and I lived in wasn't exactly small, but it certainly wasn't as large as this one.

After Zane knocked on the door, there was barely any wait before Jaden opened it with his usual large grin. "Welcome. We were expecting you." He was really trying his best to be nice and proper.

"Jaden, for the last time, this is not a five star french restaurant. It's a friendly dinner party. You don't need to act like some fancy butler." I laughed to myself. The two of them balanced each other out so well. "Plus you're not going to be able to keep this up all night."

"Jesse! Not in front of the guests."

The apartment was decorated for the season. There was a giant Christmas tree in the living room and tinsel was hung up around the ceiling. That was Jesse's doing. Jaden may be a good cook, but he had no idea how to make a home look nice.

We made our way into their dining room and saw the others there. I guess we were the last to arrive.

Dana was sitting next to Hassleberry, of course, and Basiton and Atticus were seated together as well. Dana smiled when she saw us. "Hello, Zane. Aster."

We greeted her along with everyone else as Jesse and Jaden came in having settled their argument.

"So, who's hungry?" I guess Jaden dropped the act. We all agreed and soon Jesse and Jaden brought in the food. It was a seafood pasta. I swear there was nothing Jaden couldn't make. What cooking class did he take? Whatever is was, we all loved it.

Before we could start eating Jaden offered us some wine. To the surprise of no one, I was the first to agree. His wine choice was an incredible type of white wine. Along the way Jaden had also become some what of a wine genius, much to my pleasure.

We started eating and along with that, we began a friendly dinner conversation. We caught up with each other's lives. Jesse told us about the foster children he worked with.

"There was this adorable little girl who came into the office today. Her home life was deplorable and her parents very neglectful. I was disgusted to see such a happy little girl in such a terrible place. Luckily we were able to set her up with a foster family. They are a family I've worked with since I started working there. They are wonderful people. She'll have a good home."

I never said it, but I always admired what Jesse was doing with his life. He was truly making a difference, making sure children grew up in a suitable home. He always had wonderful stories about the children who came through his office. I had even met some of them.

A few months ago, Henry thought it'd be a great idea for me to get some publicity teaching children how to duel. Jesse's office works with the Domino City Orphanage so he got me a meeting with the children there. And it was one of the best experiences I can remember. I definitely thought I was going to be miserable the whole time what with all the small children and all. I had no idea I was actually good with small children. They all admired me, the ones who were old enough to know who I was. Maybe I'd ask Jesse if I could go see them again, no publicity this time.

"I have some news myself." Dana told the next story. "As you all know I'm currently rehearsing for 'The Nutcracker' and performances are coming up soon and my director gave me free tickets for all of you to come see the show."

It had become a sort of tradition for us to go see Dana in her ballets, but we'd never gotten free tickets before.

"That's great Dana. When is it?" Bastion asked.

"January third."

Two weeks from today. I'd put that on my calendar when I got home

We finished our dinner and convened to the living room for another tradition of ours. Trivial pursuit. We played in four teams. The winner didn't really matter all that much, but it was a great time to spend.

Dana answered yet another obscure question correctly as always. "Dana, how do you know all this?" Jaden was the one to ask her.

She shrugged. "Ten years in home school." I rolled my eyes. That was her answer for things she didn't want to or knew how to explain.

The game ended and it was getting late so everyone grabbed their coats to head home. I caught Jesse just before Zane was ready to leave.

"Hey, Jesse, do you think I could pay a visit to the orphanage again?"

"Publicity again?" He seemed a little upset.

"No, I just want to pay a visit,"

He smiled. "I'll see what I can do." Zane came up next to me and put a hand on my shoulder, obviously ready to leave. "They'll love to see you."

Zane and I left their apartment and went to our car and I thought about Jesse. He cared a lot about those children. They always do what you love and Jesse was doing just that. Maybe someday I could raise a child of my own. But then a thought came that scared me. Would I raise that child with Zane? I certainly hoped so.

"What were you talking to Jesse about?"

"I want to pay a visit to the orphanage again."

That seemed to surprise him. "That's great, but honestly you don't seem like the kind to like children."

"Well I guess I still have a few surprises left." I started to open the driver's side door but Zane closed it.

"I don't think so. How much wine did you have tonight?" I knew it was a rhetorical question, but it wasn't until then that I'd realized he hadn't had any wine. He held out his hand and I gave him the keys.

"Honestly, Zane, I'm fine." I walked over to the other side of the car.

"That's what they all say until they end up in a wreck. We're not taking chances."

He had a point, but I felt it was my job to argue at least a little bit. It wasn't like me to give in so willingly.

When we got home, I went straight to Loren's file to read through it again. I knew every page but it calmed my nerves with the whole new manager situation. However, before I managed to pick it up, Zane pushed it out of my reach.

"Not tonight, Aster." He wrapped his arms around my waist. "You can call him in the morning. Now, you need to get some sleep."

I knew he was right, no matter how much I wanted to distract myself with the file. Still I let him take me away from the file and to the bedroom. I hit my pillow and it might have been the level of alcohol I had consumed that night, but I fell asleep almost instantly.

Zane POV

The next morning, Aster called Loren and invited him over to our apartment for a meeting. It was my suggestion. Our apartment was more personal than a restaurant.

We'd agreed to meet for lunch. I made us some sandwiches, and while I may not be the grade of cook Jaden is, but I knew my way around a kitchen

"Should I really go through with this, Zane?" He ran his fingers through his hair and was slumped on the couch. He had asked me that question about a thousand times, and anyone else would have started to get irritated, but I was just reminded of how cute he could be sometimes.

"Aster, it's not something you can avoid. If not Loren, then it's got to be someone else."

"But what if-"

There was a knock on the door so Aster couldn't finish his sentence.

"Aster, just go answer the door, and tell that man he is going to be you're new manager."

He said nothing, just stood up and went to the door. He paused for a moment, but then he opened it, revealing out expected guest. "Hey, Loren." Aster was trying his absolute best to be calm and casual. I put our food on the coffee table in the living room and waited for the two of them on the couch.

Loren was a little surprised at Aster's attitude, but he tried to follow along. "Aster."

"Come in. Zane made us lunch."

The two of them made their way to our living room and Aster sat on the couch next to me while Loren sat in the chair.

We made idle conversation for a while trying to lighten the mood because the anxiety between these two was so thick. Aster was anxious to accept a new manager, and Loren was anxious because today he'd find out if he'd gotten the job. There was no way the two of them could have a good conversation.

Eventually the two of them began talking comfortably like they were close friends and I figured it was time for Aster to get to business. I stood up taking our plate back to the kitchen. I knew Aster would take the hint. I started to clean the plates while I listened to the conversation.

"Now Loren, we have to talk about this new manager position."

Loren stiffened slightly, but he kept his composure. "Yes, I thought we were going to talk about that."

Aster was silent for a moment, thinking about what he was going to say. I was worried he was going to go back on this. He wasn't going to give up this opportunity was he?

"Loren, I'm just gonna cut straight to it. I think that's the best thing to do right now." I could see the anticipation on Loren's face. "I've talked with Henry, I've looked through your file and I've talked it over with Zane. And I have decided that I want to sign you on as my new manager."

The look of relief on Loren's face was incredible. "Thank you so much Aster. You won't regret this, I guarantee." The two of them stood up and shook hands.

There, he did it. He might have been anxious before, but it would get easier now. He and Loren seemed like they were gonna work well together. Loren was going to be a good addition to Aster's career.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Zane POV

Jesse set up a visit for Aster and I to the Domino City Orphanage on Christmas Eve. He had called the director of the funeral and she thought it would be a great present for the kids to have us come.

We entered the building and went to the front office. We were greeted immediately by the woman who was in charge of the orphanage.

"Zane, Aster, thank you so much for coming. The kids are going to love it. They are all in the activity room watching rudolph with Jeremy and Helen." They were two people who worked here.

"We really don't mind at all, Lana. They are a bunch of great kids." Aster did the talking as I had never met this woman before.

"They have no idea you two are here. They are going to love the surprise. Well the movie should be over soon." We followed Lana to the activity room. "Wait here for a minute." She walked in leaving the door open. We kept an ear out for the right time to come in. I heard that, sure enough, the movie was coming to an end.

"Hey kids." They greeted her. "Remember those visitors that we told you might be coming if you all were good?"

The kids got really excited asking so many questions about who it could be. Lana quieted them before she continued. "Be on your best behavior for our guests. They're just outside."

That was our cue. The two of walked inside and the kids immediately cheered. They ran up to us and started saying things but they were all talking at once so it was really hard to make out what any one child was saying. There were only twelve children in the orphanage at this time. There were never too many children. The foster system was incredible and not many children stay here long before some nice family comes to adopt them. The oldest was this little boy currently talking Aster's ear off and he was no older than eleven. The youngest was a girl who was about three. I saw her sitting with Jeremy obviously very shy around new people.

"Hey, Dylan, Julie, Phillipa." The three children he'd named were obviously surprised that Aster had remembered them. He only recognized three? Does that mean that nine of these children were new to the orphanage?

We got the kids to finally calm down and sit on the floor. Then we got to answer the questions of the little kids. "Introduce yourselves and then ask your questions."

The children all raised their hands at once. Lana called on a small girl in the front. "My name is Molly and I am four. How old are you?"

I smiled at the cute question. Aster answered first. "I am twenty-one."

"And I am twenty-five."

"Wow," more than one of them answered. I guess to a bunch of children people in their twenties did seem old.

We answered some more questions. Marcus asked if we had any siblings and his twin Max asked if we had any good friends. We told them about our friends and when we told them we were friends with Jaden Yuki, some of the children who followed pro dueling, which was most of them actually, got incredibly excited. They asked us all sorts of questions about him and some of them asked if we were only making that up to trick us.

We answered more questions from the children before one that we didn't know how to answer came up.

It was from that boy who Aster recognized. He was the oldest child here. "Aster, last time you were here you told us about Zane. Are the two of you best friends?"

Neither of us wanted to answer mostly because we didn't know how. Did we say yes to avoid an awkward conversation? Did we say no and resort ourselves to explaining a homosexual relationship to a bunch of children. We glanced at each other neither knowing what to say. Thankfully, Lana stepped in and saved us.

"That's enough of the questions, I think it's time for Christmas Eve dinner." The children were upset that they wouldn't get an answer, but they soon got over it and headed to the dining room for dinner. Holidays were a few of the special days of the year where they got a very nice meal. The orphanage wasn't in debt by any means, but they certainly couldn't afford to feed them food this nice every day of the year.

We all started to move that way and I caught a glance of Jeremy coaxing that little girl from earlier out of the room. He was having a slightly hard time. I went over to her and knelt in front of her. "Hey there, what is your name?"

She pushed herself into Jeremy's side avoiding the question. "It's okay. Tell Zane your name. He won't bite I promise."

She relaxed a little bit and glanced up at me. She whispered, "Josephine." It was barely audible but at least she finally spoke.

"Well, Josephine, what's say we got get some dinner? You wouldn't want to miss out on that would you." She shook her head slightly. "Well come on then." I smiled at her. "A cute girl like you shouldn't hide in here while the rest of the kids have all the fun." I stood up and offered my hand to her. Slowly she separated herself from Jeremy and put her hand in mine. Jeremy and I took her to the dining room and set her in a seat next the other children. Aster was helping get the children their food and I talked to Jeremy.

"Why is she so shy?"

Jeremy got a sad look on his face. "She didn't come from a great home. Her parents were drug addicts and they yelled at each other all through the night. The neighbors reported noise and domestic violence multiple times but nothing ever changed. People came and went from the house and did God knows what there.

"One night, after multiple nights in a row of yelling, the house was silent which was more off putting to the neighbors than the noise. Two of the neighbors went to check on them in the morning having not heard any noise for a while. They found her parents dead on the floor having overdosed on whatever they had taken. They called the police and reported it. The police searched the house for anything illicit and found her hiding in a closet.

"We think her parents went crazy when they overdosed and she hid from them until they seemed sober again, but when she never heard from them again, she just stayed in the closet. The police took her to social services but they sent her here instead of putting her in the foster care system. They thought she should be around more children before sending her to a new family. She came her and when we tried to talk to her, she only told us her name."

Children should not be subject to a life like that. "Is that why she doesn't like new people."

He nodded. "So many people came and went from her house that strangers were only ever violent adults. She's wary of new people and stays with either me or Helen when adults come to see the children. I'm afraid that if she doesn't open up, she'll never find a good home because we don't know enough about her to match her with one."

"She seems like she'd be such a sweet girl. I hope she can get a good home soon."

"Us too. The other children are nice to her so we think she's making progress. I don't think she's used to having people be nice to her."

I found myself hoping that maybe I could be the one to adopt her. I was surprised by that thought. I had never once thought about anything like that. I glanced at Aster who was smiling while the kids ate and he talked to them. Would Aster ever want a child? I had no idea. He doesn't seem like the child type. Well, then again, neither did I. Were the two of us fit to raise a child? Maybe someday. But I didn't know. The time we've spent with these children has been nothing short of fantastic.

We left the orphanage around 8:00 for the children's bed time. We left small gifts for each of them for their stockings. Driving back to our apartment I'm sure both of us were thinking about the children and how, despite their situation, they have incredible attitudes. And maybe Aster was thinking about how a child would be a great addition to our lives.

I know I was.

The next morning, we slept in. I slowly woke and opened my eyes to see Aster sleeping against my chest. My arms was around his waist like it was most nights. I smiled and brought that hand up to his head and brushed his hair away from his face. That was enough to wake him up. He didn't open his eyes but he drew a big breath in.

"Merry Christmas."

I smiled keeping my hand on his face. "Merry Christmas."

We stayed in bed for a while while we woke up. We had no pressing things to attend to until that night. And even then all we were going to do was go to a Christmas party at Jaden and Jesse's apartment. Jaden went all out for Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners and we all agreed that their home was the go to home for holiday parties.

Around 11:00 we made our way out of the bedroom. We had our breakfast and then we sat on the couch together after we had grabbed our gifts to each other from wherever we hid them.

"You open yours first." Aster pushed the wrapped box towards me.

"Okay, okay." I started to peel back the wrapping paper, but I went painstakingly slow just to annoy him. It worked.

"Zane. Just open the box." I laughed at his expense and just tore the paper off.

I had no words for what was inside. It was a black picture frame. And the photo was of Aster and me about four months ago. It was my favorite picture of us that I had. Neither of us even knew that it was being taken but that made it so much better.

It was of the two of us on a hill overlooking the city. Hassleberry wanted to take us all on a hike, but I think he just wanted to do his archaeology things in the company of friends. We had gotten to the end and everyone was catching their breath and drinking water. Aster had gone over to the precipice of where we were standing and looking out as the sun started to set. I had gone over to him and I put my arms around his waist and he put his arms around my neck and we put put our foreheads together. I looked at him and he looked at me and we just stayed like that and someone, I think it was Atticus, took a picture.

I looked at it now and I saw that the way we were looking at each other was a comforting sight. It was one of trust, one of understanding.

It was the look of two people in love.

And around the picture was a white border on which Aster had hand written: After five years with the best person in my life, I can't wait for the rest of our life together. I love you.

At this point I hadn't said anything. Aster had started to get anxious. "I'm sorry if you don't like it, but I couldn't think of anything else to get you. I figured anything material you wanted, you would just buy yourself so-"

I cut him off with a kiss. It wasn't slow or passionate, more need based like I wanted to remind myself that he was still there he still loved me.

"I love it, Aster. It's the best gift I've gotten for any holiday." He seemed reassured. "Now I just think that my present won't be nearly as good as yours."

He smiled and opened it anyway. I had gotten him tickets to a wine tasting at a vineyard not far from the cabin we were going to for new years. "A wine tasting?"

"Yeah, it's this small vineyard a few miles away from my family cabin. I was thinking we could go out there for New Year's Eve and spend the holiday there." I had only gotten the tickets to the vineyard because his real gift I was saving for midnight of the new year. I thought about the small velvet box sitting in my dresser drawer in our bedroom.

"Thank you." He kissed me again. And when he pulled back, he said, "I love you."

I kissed him again. "I love you too."

Aster stood up and started pulling me towards the bedroom. "Aster, what are you doing?"

"I'm going to show you just how much I love you."

He pulled me into the bedroom and closed the door behind us leaving us alone in the bedroom for whatever Aster had in mind.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Aster POV

After having spent the majority of our morning and afternoon in our bedroom, Zane and I had to pull ourselves apart from each other if we had any hope of getting to Jaden and Jesse's on time. They wanted us there around 7:30 and it was currently 6:45.

"Zane, we have to get up." He only wrapped himself tighter around me. We hadn't even bothered with the blanket anymore and the only thing keeping us warm was the proximity to each other. "Zane, come on." He wasn't responding, more he was just being difficult, so I decided to make him respond. I slapped him dangerously low on his back just hard enough to make him jump up from the bed.

"Aster! What was that for?"

I got up after him and started to gather my clothing. "Excuse me if I don't want to be late to the party Jaden and Jesse are or so graciously throwing us." I had pulled on my boxers and through Zane's at him. "Now get dressed. Unless you want to go out in public wearing nothing.

"You don't seem to mind that."

"No, but only in the privacy of our own home." I walked up to him. "And who knows who would try to steal you away from me after catching sight of that body of yours?" I slapped him again and went into the bathroom to put myself together.

When I came out Zane had thankfully gotten dressed. I looked at the clock and it said 7:15. "Aster, it's about time you came out of the bathroom. I thought you were the one who wanted to get ready quickly."

"I wanted to get ready so I knew I'd have time to get ready properly. And now we can get there on time. If we did things your way, we'd never leave the bed you insatiable sex fiend."

He was ready to play along. "Oh, I'm the insatiable one am I. May I remind you that it wasn't who was begging-"

"Okay that's enough. Argument over." It was unnecessary to repeat anything either of us said in those moments.

He just laughed at me. "Aster, you get embarrassed so easily."

"Not my fault." Luckily he let it go at that point. "Let's go."

The drive to the apartment was much more comfortable and we had calmed down from our marathon enough to get in a mindset that we had to go out in public and not act like complete children.

We arrived and rang the bell only to be greeted by none other than Jaden and Jesse. They welcomed us and when we got inside we realized that we had been the last to arrive. At least we weren't too far behind the rest of them.

I took a look around and as it always went at Christmas and Thanksgiving, Jaden had made way more food than eight people could possibly eat. He made enough for thirty and we never ate all of.

Dana greeted me. She was wearing a red and white short sleeve dress that went down to her knees. She always had something to wear for any situation be it a meeting, a recital, or a party. She was always the best dressed out of all of us.

She walked back to Hassleberry as we took our jackets off and joined the rest of the group. They were all chatting idly, eating the food Jaden had laid out. If we didn't eat as much as we could, Jaden and Jesse would be dealing with more food than they could eat until the end of the year. Atticus didn't seem to mind the food. He always ate more than the rest of us. Occasionally Bastion would step in and tell him not to eat so much, but he was just letting Atticus eat for the moment.

Jesse had planned more this year than most years. He'd gotten all of us to bring a small gift for a white elephant which we had never done before. I ended up with a giant make up kit. When I had opened it every person started laughing, Dana and Hassleberry laughing the hardest. They were no doubt the ones who brought it. Leave it to Dana to get items none of us would ever need to use.

After everyone had calmed down, we all got up to clean up the paper. Jesse put all of it into a bag and told us all to make ourselves comfortable again. I had sat next to Zane just as Jaden pointed out, "Would you look at that? Atticus and Bastion are under the mistletoe!" All of us shifted our view towards where Jaden was looking.

Sure enough the two of them were standing by the Christmas tree under a mistletoe. "Jesse you didn't tell me you'd hung up a mistletoe."

Jesse shrugged. "I didn't think I need to."

The real question was whether or not Atticus and Bastion were going to follow the tradition of a mistletoe. We all stared at them, which honestly probably did not help them at all, but we want to see what they would do.

Bastion refused to look at anyone, obviously embarrassed. But after a few moments, Atticus looked between us and him and smiled. To all of our surprise, he gently grabbed Bastion around his waist and pulled him towards himself. And then he kissed him.

It wasn't a kiss of two people who were unfamiliar with each other. The two of them looked like they fit together, like they had done this before. And they held on to each other longer than two friends would have. What was going on here?

The two of them pulled apart and all of us could just stare. No one knew what to say. Of course Atticus always found something to say. He smiled and took his hands away from Bastions waist. He took Bastion's hand in his and laced their fingers. "So, I guess the cat's out of the bag."

It was Zane who actually spoke next. "So you mean you two are . . . together?"

Bastion rubbed his head with his free hand. "Yeah, if that's how you want to put it."

Dana was next. "How long now?"

They looked at each other. "Officially? About two weeks."

Officially? What was that supposed to mean? No one asked about it though.

"Well, I have to say that I for one did not see this coming." Jesse said what we were all thinking. It was true that they weren't exactly the ideal pair. I considered the rest of us. Zane and I balanced each other out. I had what he lacked, and vice-versa. We both had demons in our past, but neither of us cared about that. We knew we could trust one another and that we would comfortable doing anything with each other or saying anything to each other.

Jaden and Jesse were made for each other. They were so in touch with one another's needs and they looked out for each other. they knew when the other was unhappy the other knew immediately. Both of them had great attitudes most of the time and it made their company very enjoyable. I'm sure the two of them knew that they were two halves of a whole. They didn't balance eachother out in the way that one had what the other didn't, but more in the way that they were so similar, they couldn't help but be attracted to each other.

Dana and Hassleberry were the very definition of balance in a relationship, physically and emotionally. Dana was this tiny girl who looked like she could lift anything heavier than ten pounds. She was the shortest of all of us while Hassleberry was the tallest. He was a big guy, taller than zane and wide in the shoulders. He was a good foot taller than Dana and that was only physical attributes. Dana and Hassleberry brought out things in each other that neither of them knew about. Hassleberry made Dana more willing to have friends, and Dana made Hassleberry more willing to open up to everybody.

But Atticus and Bastion. Two people could not be more opposite. Bastion was the incredibly smart math and science genius who would be teaching scholars at the university level. He was an intellectual who loved knowledge and discovery. Atticus was someone who didn't really have a direction in life, not in the way that he was a deadbeat, he just didn't know what he wanted to do. He sold clothes at a men's wear store. And he's not exactly the next Copernicus. He wasn't into science and math. what ever one of them was interested in, the other would never associate with. How the two of them even became as close friends as they did was beyond us, but now in a relationship. I would not think of any possible reason the two of them would be attracted to each other, and yet they were. I wasn't sure if their relationship would last, but that's a risk they were going to take together.

We all got over the initial shock of that revelation and went back to enjoying ourselves. I ended up talking to Dana and Hassleberry.

"So do you and Zane have plans for New Year's?" Dana asked.

"Actually we're going out to a vineyard for the night and spend some time just the two of us."

"That sounds like a great way to spend the holiday."

She continued to talk after that, but I didn't really continue listening. I just thought about the coming year and what it could possibly hold for my future with Zane.

Less than a week later, Zane and I found ourselves back at his family cabin. The wine tasting had been that afternoon and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. That vineyard had high quality wine, some of the best I could remember having had tasted.

Zane I think enjoyed himself too. He isn't as much an appreciator of wine as I am, but he went with me and I loved that he was willing to step out of his comfort zone to make me happy.

We were laying on a blanket under the oak tree by the small lake in comfortable silence. I had my head against his chest and I held his hand in mine. He really cared for me, and I for him.

I had never had many people I cared so much for, other than my father, but he was gone now. I never thought that I would allow myself to open up to someone again after losing him, but I guess nothing ever really goes how you plan it to go.

"I love you." I don't really know why I said it. It was true, incredibly true. Maybe I was just reminding myself that I did love him. I don't know why I needed that reminder. Maybe I was paranoid slightly that I would lose him when I woke up and found out this was all a dream.

He just looked at me, but didn't say anything. Then he moved his arm to check the time. "11:58."

Was that inappropriate to say? Did I do something wrong? He always said it back. Always. I opened my mouth to ask about it, but she shifted and moved me off of him. "Zane . . . ?"

He looked nervous. What was going on? Once we were kneeling in front of each other, he grabbed my hands and sighed. "Aster . . ."

Oh no. No no no no. He wasn't breaking up with me was he? He couldn't. I didn't know what I would do without him. I had already lost the person I cared most about once before. I wasn't going to let it happen again. I wanted to ramble off reasons why I wanted to stay together with him, but in the end, I decided to just let him speak.

"Aster, it has been five years. Five of the greatest years of my life. For a while I was sure that I was destined for a life of loneliness." He paused bringing his hand to my face. "But then you walked into my life. And granted, we may not have had the best introduction, but once we moved past that, I realized that I was wrong about you. We're not so different. We have both done things we're not proud of, but that doesn't make us bad people.

"We became unlikely friends. We found a commonality in each other. A balance to what we were missing. My whole life I only ever had my brother and I ruined that at one point so I had no one. And I know that you had no one except your father for your entire life. And for the first time, we allowed someone new to breach our defenses. I never knew that I could meet someone who could teach me it was okay to let someone in, let alone let my self love someone as much as I love you. And I never thought I would be so lucky as to earn the love and devotion of someone as great as you. You are the greatest thing that has ever happened to me. I am only twenty five years old, but I can't imagine anything in the rest of my life can compare to your companionship."

At this point he'd let go of me and reached into the pocket of his coat. It gave me a split second to think about what he was saying. He wasn't breaking up with me? Who would give that speech and then break up with someone? What was he doing? I could feel my heart pound in my chest at the unknown of this situation. I loved Zane, with all my heart, and I knew that as long as I had him, nothing would come between us. I looked back at zane and he had pulled a small box out of his pocket.

"Aster, I am not perfect, far from it, but you have given me the privilege of your love, but I want to know if you will give me the privilege of letting me be your husband? Aster, will you marry me?"

I was shocked, utterly shocked. I knew I loved Zane and that he loved me, but I had not once given thought to marriage. It just never seemed like something either of us would the type of person for. And yet here we were. Out on this lake at the start of new year, Zane holding this ring out in front of me waiting for my answer. And I just stayed silent. This was something I never thought would happen, and now that it was, I couldn't help but be excited. This was the start of the rest of our life. We had many years ahead of us and it all started with this promise that no matter what happened, we'd love each other for the rest of our days together.

I slowly took his face between my hands and looked him in the eye. "Yes."

The look on his face was ecstatic. I don't know how long he'd been planning this, but now, that didn't matter. He offered me the rest of his life and now I was willing to offer him the rest of mine. "Yes, Zane, I will marry you."

He slowly removed the ring, a plain silver beautiful band, from the box. His hands we shaking so I steadied them with my right hand. I helped him settle the ring on the fourth finger of my left hand and it felt perfect, as if it was something that had always belonged there, but that I had been missing for twenty-one years. We looked at each other and we kissed then, our first kiss as an engaged couple. Zane was no longer my boyfriend. He was my fiance. It was passionate and loving. It was the signature on the promise we had just made to each other.

We pulled away and Zane pulled me closer to him putting his forehead against mine. He wrapped his arms around my waist and said "I love you. God, I love you so much."

I buried my fingers gently in his hair. "I love you too, Zane."

We didn't say anything more after that. We only kissed again. We expressed our care for each other in the most basic of ways and I couldn't think of anything else I could have possibly wanted. He pushed me down on the blanket and pulled at my shirt as I pulled at his. In that moment, we both needed each other in the most intimate way possible. It was something both of us trusted each other in doing and now, it seemed like words simply could not express the way we felt anymore.

And in that moment, nothing mattered any more. The only thing that mattered was that I had Zane, and Zane had me. And nothing could change that.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Zane POV

The next morning, after we had gotten dressed, we made our way back into town. We would have loved to spend the next few days out in our cabin but the new year had started and with it, the new dueling season would start in the next week or so. I had already figured out the season with my manager; practice sessions, publicity, recruiting, visits to duel academy and other schools, the works.

But Aster had just gotten a new manager so the two of them needed to figure that out. Loren had called him and told him he had gotten a lot of things already scheduled. Aster appreciated his pro-activity. Henry always checked with him on dates even though Aster always updated him with his schedule.

The drive wasn't too long and I dropped Aster off at the apartment. He told Loren he'd meet him there. Since Aster was meeting with Loren I called Atticus and asked if he wanted to have lunch. I wanted to catch up with my old friend and I also wanted details on his new relationship. I hadn't told him that part, but he'd agreed happily.

I met him at a coffee shop not too far from his apartment. He didn't have a car so he relied on Bastion for a lot of his far transportation. But that actually wasn't too often because his work was only two blocks away. It was mainly when we all got together that Bastion drove him around. Maybe that was more often now, though.

Atticus was already there and waved to me when he saw me get out of my car. We got some drinks and took a table outside. We talked for a few minutes before Atticus asked me about what we did at the cabin. I wasn't sure if Aster was okay with me telling people about our engagement yet so I just told him that we went to the vineyard and enjoyed the new year in my cabin.

Atticus knew there was something I wasn't telling him, but thankfully he didn't push. He seemed satisfied for now so I wanted to get my answers.

"So Atticus." He was listening. "If you don't mind me asking, I want to know what happened between you and Basitian. It definitely came as a surprise to all of us."

'I knew this was coming." He looked at his coffee in thought and smiled. "It just kind of happened, you know? Can you really explain what happened between you and Aster?" I nodded. I understood his point. He looked away, deep in thought. I didn't want to interrupt him, I just let him talk as he was willing.

"I guess this all started four years ago, when we all first met Dana. Around that time. I worked with Bastion on the tag team assignment and I was worried he was going to think I was an idiot. I mean I can be a little air headed sometimes but I'm not completely useless. But compared to Bastion I might as well have been. He is so smart, there is no way I could have kept up with him. I thought for sure he would get frustrated with me right away and we wouldn't get along." He was smiling now. "That wasn't the case. We just sort of . . . clicked I guess. We found commonalities and the only outstanding difference was out intellectual standing, but that didn't seem to matter to either of us. We just talked about whatever and we became friends.

"Then over the next few years things changed for me. I didn't know at the time how Bastion felt so I kept my feelings to myself. It all started when he'd proposed that we get an apartment together so we could afford rent. That was a year and a half ago. Since then I started to notice little things in his behavior that I just found adorable. Like the way he only uses his derivative mug for tea and his sine curves mug for coffee. Things like that.

"I thought it was just that I was becoming good friends with him, but then a little less than a month ago something happened. And it is going to sound incredibly stupid and cliche but it's true. I was sorting through the mail and was walking into the living room not paying attention where I was going and he was walking out reading the newspaper and we crashed into each other. I fell on top of him and we just stayed like that for a minute. We just looked at each other and that's when I knew. I knew that I cared about him as more than a friend.

"Then things like that kept happening and I started to think that maybe he felt the same way. Believe it or not it was actually Bastion who finally said something about it. We both knew something was going on and we just . . . came clean. And that's that."

I listened to his story and couldn't help but think about how such a similar thing happened between Aster and me. We had developed that friendship but both of us knew something more was going on. I remembered that day very well.

It was during one of my visits to Syrus at duel academy that I thought it would be nice to pay a visit to an old friend. Or new friend as it were.

I knocked on Aster's dorm door and when he opened it, he smiled. "Come on in, Zane. What brings you here?"

"I just thought I visit." I sat down on his bed as he went to his mini fridge to get some water. He offered me some and I took it gladly. I did want to visit him, but only because I really wanted to see him. Recently I had been developing some deeper feelings for Aster and I really wanted to know if I truly cared about him enough to know if I wanted something more from this.

We talked a while about nothing in particular and then Aster asked a question I was not expecting.

"So you have your eye on anyone lately?"

Of course I knew exactly what he meant, but I decided to walk my way around it. "Well there are a few duelists I'm trying to set a match up with. They seem like good opponents."

"No, Zane you know what I mean. Any cute girls?" I looked away. "Or cute guys, I don't know."

I sighed. I didn't exactly have to tell him who did I? But I didn't want to light to him. "Yes actually. There is. A guy. It's sort of a recent development."

He seemed surprised that I'd actually said yes. "Oh, really?"

"Yes." I didn't want him to be left out. "What about you?"

He smiled. "There is. A guy."

We both asked 'what's he like?' in quick succession and both of us couldn't help but smile.

I started. "Young. Well younger than me."

He countered. "Older than me."

We continued like that. "A duelist."

"A duelist."

"Occasionally bratty."

"Often over brooding."

"Short for his age."

"Not tall enough for his age."

"Blue eyes."

"Blue eyes."

"Silver hair."

"Blue hair."

We had continued to walk towards each other with every description until we couldn't walk any farther. At that point we had both realized that we both had only been describing each other.

"His name?" I started.

He smiled, continuing to play along. "His name?

I cupped his face with one hand. "Aster Phoenix."

He put his hand over mine leaning in to the touch of my hand. "Zane Truesdale."

We looked at each other as we slowly moved towards each other. It took a painstakingly long wait before we finally met.

Kissing Aster was nothing I had ever expected. It was gentle and full of care. There was no rush, no need, only an understanding between the two of us. An understanding that we both knew what we wanted. And in that moment neither of us wanted anything more.

I smiled at that memory. And now, five years later, nothing had changed between us.

After lunch with Atticus I returned home as I was sure Aster had finished his meeting with Loren.

I opened the door and only Aster was there. He was sitting on the couch obviously distressed. He had his hands over his face and files and schedules strewn about the coffee table.

"Aster, what's wrong."

He threw his hands down and let out a groan. "This schedule. Loren scheduled ne for a publicity thing on Saturday night. And there is no way I can get out of it. He's reserved the meeting space and everything."

Saturday night. "You mean . . ."

"I can't go see Dana at the ballet." He got up and walked over a window. "Every ballet for four years. I have seen every ballet she's been in for four years and now I'm missing this one."

"Can't you just go to a different night? We can buy a ticket and-"

"Don't you think I thought of that? I called Dana but she told me all the rest of the nights were sold out. She had to pull a lot of strings to get us the tickets she did."

I put a hand on his shoulder. "Aster it's okay. She'll understand."

"She told me not to worry about it. She said I had to think about my career and that she'll be in more ballets."

'See? It's okay. This isn't something you should get upset over."

He sighed again. And turned around to let me hug him. "She a good friend. I should go support her not spend Saturday night talking to a bunch of people who don't even care about me, only me dueling ability."

"She'll forgive you. I promise."

He was upset, and I wasn't going to make him cheer up. He'd calm down eventually and then we'd move past this. It was one little unforeseen conflict. It wasn't as if he was walking out of our lives forever.

Dana was understanding. She wouldn't hold this against him. The only person who would hold on to this would be Aster. He was sensitive and hated breaking promises. He'd had so many people break promises to him that he hated doing it himself.

I held him until he calm down and the whole time I was holding him I thought about how he would have to miss the ballet had Loren known about it. He wouldn't have scheduled on that day if he knew, right?


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Aster POV

It had been over a month since I had to miss Dana's ballet. I still felt awful about missing it, but everyone else seemed to have moved past it. It was actually the morning of Valentine's day so I decided to not think about that. Zane and I were never one to get excited for this holiday, but a lot of things had changed since we got engaged. One of those things being that I was away from Zane more often. Loren had gone through all this trouble to schedule all these things and I couldn't just cancel them. He had pulled a lot of strings to get these events for my publicity. It was doing great things for my career, but awful things for my personal time with Zane.

I was in the bathroom brushing my teeth. I rinsed my mouth and opened the top drawer of the counter. I smiled at what I had hidden there. I had gotten a ring to match the one Zane had gotten me, only it was a darker silver than mine. I was going to give it to him tonight after our Valentine's dinner. He'd made reservations for a restaurant in downtown. It wasn't too fancy, but we rarely ever actually went out to a restaurant for a date. We either cooked here or went to the cabin. It was going to be a good change.

But before that I had a publicity thing to do in South Domino City. Some Valentine's Day promotion for pro dueling. I really did not like all these things that Loren had me doing, but it had actually gotten my reputation to spread to more countries.

I put the ring in the inside pocket of my suit jacket and left the bathroom to seen Zane in the living room. 'Hey, Aster. Happy Valentine's Day." He gave me a kiss on my cheek. "So how long will this thing take?" I could hear the unhappiness in his voice no matter how he tried to hide it. I knew he wouldn't voice his concerns about it because he didn't want to me to think that he thought I was prioritizing my career over him. Really I would give up my career in a heartbeat if my choice was between him and my career.

"Loren said it would be done by six."

"Good. I made reservations for six thirty so what's say we just meet at the restaurant?"

It would take a while for me to get back and plus I'd want to change before I went to the restaurant. "Sounds like a plan." I kissed him properly and he wrapped his arms around my waist pulling me close. I gripped his shoulders tightly. This man was my fiance. The person who I loved enough to give the rest of my life.

I pulled away smiling. I ran a finger across his chest mischievously. "You know, I'm not meeting Loren for and hour and half. That would give us enough time to . . ."

He smiled catching my meaning. "Twice."

"God, yes." I kissed him again as Zane dragged me to the bedroom and shut the door behind us.

I had been through so many interviews, signingings and picture flashes. Surely I was finished by then. No. My watch only read 4:23. I still had an hour and a half left. Loren grabbed my shoulder.

"Aster, there's a Valentine's dueling special. I had to pull some strings, but I got you in the lineup. Your duel is up in fifteen minutes against Gerald Frederick." He was the number eight pro duelist.

Loren . . . I was so sick of him adding stuff on to what I had to do. "Loren I'm meeting Zane for dinner at six thirty. I can't afford to do anything more. I have to leave at six."

"Aster this won't take that long. Plus I can't pull you now. It took a lot to get you in."

I sighed. He really need to consult me on these things. Henry barely ever scheduled me for things and when he did it was only by my request. By now with Loren I had done baseball games, basketball games, card signings, TV shows, festivals, carnivals, fairs, everything Loren could get me into. And now I was doing Valentine's Day duels at some convention.

"Fine, but only one duel."

He smiled and pulled me to the dueling arena. We were down by the floor with the other duelists. One was just starting. Two rookies I didn't recognize. I took a seat on a bench while Loren went to talk with someone else I didn't know. I reached into my pocket and pulled out the box. I held it in my hands to remind me of what was going to happen tonight.

"Whatcha got there?" I looked up and saw my next opponent. Gerald Frederick. I had only met him once at a championship tournament, but had never dueled him. He sat down next to me. "Is that a ring box?"

I didn't really want to divulge my personal life to this dueler I barely knew, but for some reason I found myself just talking?

"Yeah it's . . . for something special." I smiled.

"Are you proposing to that Truesdale fellow tonight?" Zane and I had gone public about our relationship after I'd rejoined the league. He looked concerned. "Not that it's my place to get in the way of your personal life, but isn't Valentine's Day a cliche day to propose to your boyfriend? Make it special, Phoenix."

"Oh, it's not like that. Zane proposed to me a month ago on New Year's Eve."

"Wow, really? Way to go Truesdale." He smiled. "So what are you doing with a ring?"

"I figured I shouldn't be the only one with a ring." I showed him my left hand.

"Oh wow, Truesdale sure has great taste. Silver is your color. Who knew that brooder had a romantic buried inside. Honestly, the fact that the two of you came out in a relationship was shocking. The two of you seemed like you hated each other after that first duel. and you two seemed like such loners."

I guess I hadn't thought about that. "It's true we weren't exactly friendly after our first meeting, but that changed relatively quickly. Then we . . . you know."

"Falling in love is a wonderful experience. I've been married for six years and I fall in love with her more and more every day. You're gonna love it, Phoenix."

I put the box back in my pocket, a certain question running through my head. I didn't have very many friends so there weren't many people I could ask about this . . ."

"Hey, Gerald, do you um, have any advice for me for married life?"

"Well," He thought about it for a minute. "It's gonna be tough at first. You'll be out of the dating phase and into the commitment phase. You're going to be giving the rest of your life to this person so make sure you hold onto them. Very rarely does one find something they care so much about so now that you've found it, you can't let go. You need to give him a lot of your time in the beginning. It'll seem like you're spending a lot of time with him, more time than you thought you could give but if you drift apart then you're gonna lose him for good and he'll be gone. Don't let that happen."

"Wow, this isn't going to be easy is it?"

"Nothing worth keeping was ever kept easily. You have to fight for it."

That was the most insightful thing I had heard in a while. I loved Zane so much and was willing to fight every person on Earth for him and I'd definitely keep him. "I'll do anything for him."

"Good. That's the way you need to think." Just then the duell had ended with cheers for whoever won. "I guess we're up, Phoenix."

Loren came up to us then with another person who I assumed was Gerald's manager. "Aster, there's a slight problem. The duel's being delayed due to technical difficulties. It should be running in twenty minutes, half an hour tops."

"This better not interfere with my plans with Zane, Loren."

"It won't don't worry."

Half an hour later Gerald and I took our places to start the duel. I couldn't drag this duel out like I normally would. I'd play around with them for a while, make them seem like they might win and then I'd crush them. But I had to get this done fast.

Much to my dismay, Gerald was putting up a good fight. I guess all of the top ten duelists in the league got there for a reason. I did eventually beat him, but it took way longer than I thought it would. We shook hands and he congratulated me. "Now go have fun with your boy."

I smiled and then walked back to Loren while I checked my watch. 6:04. I was already running late. I walked straight past Loren to the exit knowing he'd get the message and follow.

He ran up to me to catch up and was on the phone with someone, but I didn't bother listening. We'd made it out of the hotel where the convention was being held only to be met by two people. "There they are." Loren knew them I guess. "Aster this is the new president of Giant Skies Gaming, Hugh Leeman."

My eyes narrowed. "Giant Skies Gaming. I'm not too fond of them after what they did to the Gordon family." The news of the threats against the Gordon family was all over major networks. They mentioned the kidnapping of two minors associated with the Gordon family and company, but never divulged their identities. They also left out the fact that the son of the old CEO son's had raped one of my closest friends. That charge was dealt with in criminal court. "Considering I'm close friends with a member of the family."

Mr. Leeman nodded. "I am aware of what Mr. Howell did to the Gordon family, but I bought the company clear the name of the company. After some time it won't be the name Giant skies that's sullied. It will be the name Howell. I ensure that this company is going in different directions."

Well that was comforting to hear. Since both father and son Howell had been imprisoned the company was up for purchase. I didn't think anyone would actually buy it though.

"But that unpleasantry aside, it's great to finally meet the Aster Phoenix. Do you have time for me to buy you a drink?"

"Well, actually-"

"Hold on a moment Mr. Leeman." Loren had interrupted and pulled me aside. "Aster get a drink with him. Five minutes that's all. Don't make a bad impression with him. You could always use more sponsors."

"But Loren, I have to get the restaurant to meet Zane."

"Please Aster. Five minutes that's all."

I groaned and I should have said no, but, "Fine. Five Minutes, that's all.

Zane POV

I really had gotten to the restaurant too early. It was 6:15 but I wanted to make sure that we kept our table. The hostess showed me to my table and asked if I wanted a drink. I just wanted water.

"Are you expecting someone?" She looked to the empty seat.

"Yes, my fiance, but I came early. We agreed to meet at six thirty."

"Okay, I'll wait to take your order then. Would like to look at our dinner and wine menu?"

"Just the dinner menu. I know nothing about wine. My fiance is the wine expert."

She giggled softly. "I understand. Here's the menu. Happy Valentine's day."

She walked away then and I took to looking at the menu while waiting. Eventually 6:30 came but Aster was not there yet. My chair was positioned in a way that I could see the front entrance. I watched willing for him to walk in, but he never did.

I stared for some while before my waitress came back. "Ready to order, sir?"

"No, not yet, I'm still waiting for him. I'm sure he'll be here soon. He's one of those people who is always late," I lied.

"My boyfriend is the same way." She tried to comfort me but walked away with a sad look on her face. My watch said 6:50. Where was he? It wasn't like him to be late. The waitress had seen right through my lie and she had assumed I was getting stood up. Aster wouldn't do that.

And yet the minutes drug by. 7:00, 7:15, 7:30.

I hadn't been oblivious to the looks that people were giving me. They were feeling sorry for me.

"Excuse me sir, but you've been sitting here for an hour. The restaurant's policy is that you must order something soon or we will have to ask you to leave. I'm really sorry." She obviously did not want to tell me that, but I guess it was hopeless waiting here any longer.

"Okay, just bring me any appetizer in a to go box and bring the check with you. Then I'll leave." I might as well buy something even though I was probably only going to throw it away.

She brought me what I'd asked for in a few minutes and I left a twenty dollar bill on the check. It was easily a fifteen dollar tip, but I figured she deserved it after dealing with me all night.

I took the box and left the restaurant. I walked back to my car in an awful mood. Where was he? Was he blowing me off? Was he . . .?

Oh my God. Was he okay? Had something happened to him? Was he in trouble? Was he hurt? I don't know what I would do if anything happened to him. I rushed back to the apartment and checked our voice mail. Nothing. If he was in the hospital, they would have called by now. So he wasn't there. So where was he?

Aster POV

Five minutes turned into almost an hour. Mr. Leeman offered to be a new sponsor, but I decided to hold off on a partnership with his company for based on my history with it.

"Aster I'm sorry. I-"

"I don't want to hear it, Loren. Just get me to the restaurant, now."

The rest of the car ride was in silence and when we got to the restaurant I had gotten out before it even came to a stop. I walked straight to the hostess. "Truesdale. I'm with the Truesdale party."

"I'm sorry. Mr. Truesdale left about ten minutes ago after his date didn't show up."

She didn't mean to rub it in my face, but I felt a twinge of pain in my chest. I looked at my watch. 8:00. I had really messed up this time.

I rushed out back to the car. "Take me home, now." I had a feeling that's where he went.

I said nothing to Loren when we got there. Just left him down in front of our building. I ran up the stairs and practically threw open the door. Zane was laying across the couch. He looked towards me and sat up immediately. He looked me up and down as if looking for injuries. When he saw none, his face turned sour.

"Look who decided to show up. What, that handsome manager of yours too distracting?"

"Zane, you're wrong."

He stood up and strode over to me. "Am I? I was just her worrying about what had happened to you. I was worried you gotten hurt, that you were missing. I didn't know what to do. But now I see nothing was wrong with you. You're fine. What was it that you and Loren were doing, hm?"

"Nothing. I was supposed to talk with the president of a gaming company for five minutes but it just kept dragging on. Loren kept asking questions and I wanted make a good impression. I rushed to the restaurant but you weren't there. And the whole time I was just thinking about how I'd messed up. I shouldn't have agreed to talk with him. I should have left right away." I walked past him and collapsed on the couch, holding back tears. "I could only think about what was happening to you, what you were thinking. All you wanted was to spend a night with me and I messed up. I'm sorry Zane. I have no excuse. I messed up. And if you can't forgive me, I understand. I just wanted to give you your ring and tell you I love you again, because I love to tell you that."

I let the sobs come out freely now. I really hated myself for doing this to him. I felt Zane sit down next to me. He brought my head to his chest. "Shh, it's okay." He obviously had expected me to defend myself, not apologize profusely. "I forgive you. It's only one day."

I pushed away from him. "A special day. Our first Valentine's Day as an engaged couple."

"Aster, we all make mistakes. It's done now and there's nothing we can do about it." He kissed me as a form of comfort.

"Now, tell me about this ring."

Right. That. I reached into my pocket. "This certainly isn't the way I wanted to give it to you, but I wanted you to have a ring too. We're engaged so we should both have rings. Zane, I made a bad decision tonight, but if you're willing to forgive me now, would you still be willing to marry me?" I opened the box. He took the box gently and took the ring out.

"Of course I'll still marry you Aster." I put my hand on his and put the ring on his hand and now we matched. "It's really beautiful Aster. You know me so well."

He kissed me again and I had stopped crying. We had actually made it through this and we were still together. I thought for sure Zane would be livid when I didn't show up, but he'd proven me wrong. Gerald was right. I had found something special and I was going to fight for him.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Zane POV

Aster and I did a make up Valentine's celebration the day after. I could have stayed mad at him for being late, but staying mad at him was not the right answer. We were going to have countless more arguments from here on out. We couldn't let one little mishap ruin our relationship.

We had dinner and we celebrated a month of being engaged. he would never admit it, but Aster was a true romantic. He knew exactly what to say and do to set a mood. That is if there is nothing to ruin the mood.

A week later, Loren called to ask if he could meet with Aster to talk about scheduling. Finally. Loren had been just scheduling things and then throwing them at Aster expecting him to drop everything and go. It's not like Aster needed as much publicity as he was getting. He was the number one ranked duelist after all. Loren justified it by saying it was improving his reputation. As if Aster really cared about that.

I reading a newspaper as Aster and Loren talked in the living room. Well, I was more looking at the pages while listening to their conversation.

"I called Henry and he gave me some of the events that you did while he was your manager. I figured these ones would be good for you. I called back about the convention in Tokyo but they said that they couldn't schedule you without conflicting with something else."

I let out a sigh of relief. I really didn't want Aster to be away for that long.

"But I did get an okay on the convention in San Francisco. I got you a time slot in three days."

"San Francisco? Loren you were supposed to okay that with me before going ahead. You were supposed to call them and then tell me what they said before I gave you the okay."

"Well I figured it would be good for your international reputation."

"I already have an international reputation."

"Not a very good one. This is a good one. Maximillion Pegasus will be there. If we can get some photos of you with him, it'll be great for you. Besides it wouldn't look good on either of us to pull out now and it's only four days."

Aster sighed as if thinking about it. "Will you hold on a minute, Loren?"

He got up and to my surprise, walked over to me, sitting in the chair next to me. He spoke low enough so that Loren wouldn't hear, but I don't think he was listening because he was reading some documents. "Zane, stop pretending to read the newspaper. I know you're eavesdropping."

I put it down and looked at him. "Well when you say it like that, it makes it sound like I'm a good-for-nothing rascal."

"Zane, please. So about the convention in San Francisco . . ."

Oh. He wanted me to help him decide. I sighed. "Aster, what do you want to do?"

"Well, if Pegasus really is going to be there, it would be a great opportunity to meet him. I know I could probably meet him through Dana's family. Her dad probably plays golf with him or something. But I couldn't use that meeting as a boost to my career. I have not gotten where I am today through personal connections."

I took his hand gently. "But you're worried about leaving me here all by myself for four days." He nodded. "Aster I'm not helpless. I can survive for four days. If you want to go then go. It's not like you're going away forever."

"You're right." He kissed my cheek. He stood up and turned back to Loren.

"I need to go get something from my office. I'll be right back." He walked away and I continued to pretend to read the newspaper.

"He can make decisions for himself, you know." What? Was that Loren speaking to me? I looked up and saw him looking at me, but his face wasn't the normal bright and confident face it normally was. Now it was darker, almost menacing and I didn't like that.

"I- I'm sorry what?"

"Aster. He's twenty-one. He doesn't need some brooding, pitiful, blue haired mess to make his decisions for him."

What exactly was he trying to get at? I almost wanted to argue right back, but I kept my cool. "Aster and I decided we'd make all our decisions together. It's part of being in a relationship, offering our opinions."

"That's what I'm here for. I offer my opinions and we sort out his career together."

Was he serious? "Aster met you a month ago. Of course he's going to trust my opinion more. We've been together for five years."

"Yeah, well it might not be much longer."

What the hell! I was about to spout off something about how we were engaged and that is a lifetime commitment we are making to each other. Yes he'd older than me but that Loren had no right to come in here and bash my relationship with Aster.

But then Aster came back in and Loren's face went back to how it normally was. They went back to talking and I just thought about my conversation with Loren. Or rather my argument with him. He has never acted like that before. Not once. What had gotten into him? Is he not exactly who we thought he was? But mostly I was just thinking about if I really wanted Aster to be alone with Aster for four days.

Ever since the new year, it's felt like I haven't seen much of Aster. Sure he slept at home most nights, if not every night, but during the days, he was out more and more. The few days we've had to ourselves have been spent with Aster stressed about his next event. The last time we actually had a time together without worrying about the season or publicity or whatever was New Year's Eve. Sure we had alone time, but it never lasted long.

It seemed like we were always scheduled opposite. I had duels when Aster didn't and when neither of us had duels, Loren had some event for Aster to go to or my manager had events fro me to go to. So whenever we had time together, we really just wanted to rest.

But really, when I thought about all of it, I realized that Aster was spending more time with Loren than with me lately. They are in San Francisco right now doing who knows what. I only agreed to let Aster go because getting that meeting with Pegasus would be great for his reputation. Who knows? Maybe Pegasus would agree to sponsor him. That would do great things for him. I would have gone with them but I had two duels over those four days so I couldn't. So now he was stuck with Loren all alone.

Loren. I had no idea what to think of that guy anymore. Originally I thought he would be a great asset to Aster's career, and while he has done all that he can, it also feels like my relationship with him has been the price. There is always something he has to go do. Yes we were engaged, yes we loved each other, but when you never get to see the other person, there is no telling what could change.

But ever since he came into our lives, he's put event after event on Aster's schedule. He didn't need to do all of these things so why did he continue to schedule them? Then there was the issue of Loren's attitude towards me. I've only ever interacted with him alone twice, but each time, his attitude changed. It was like I was an old enemy of his and he hated the sight of me. He talked to me in a way he would never talk with Aster. He said weird, cryptic things that made no sense. He commented on my relationship with Aster and how it was a hindrance to him. I would always say that he didn't understand and that Aster and I had a strong relationship.

Then he'd always say something like 'not much longer' or 'you never know.' What exactly was that supposed to mean? We were engaged. Nothing was supposed to tear us apart. SUre this time was a little inconveniencing but it wasn't anything we couldn't work through.

I mean it wasn't like Loren was doing all this on purpose. He just wanted to best for Aster's career. He wasn't . . . was he . . .

It couldn't be.

It wasn't that Aster was choosing to spend more time away from me? Aster wasn't scheduling these things himself and just saying that Loren was doing all of it so that I wouldn't get suspicious, was he? Was Aster getting tired of me? Was there something he needed that I could no longer offer him that Loren could? Had Aster moved on? Was our break up imminent because he was just going to run off with Loren?

That couldn't be true. Aster and I made a promise to each other to spend the rest of our lives together, and here comes Loren to ruin all of that. How is he better for Aster than I am?

I guess maybe they did spend a lot of time together ever since Loren was hired. Aster hadn't refused any of the events Loren had scheduled yet. Surely there had to be something he'd scheduled that Aster didn't want to do. Yet he went anyway. Was that because he wasn't actually going to events, just going somewhere with Loren?

But Aster had given me my own engagement ring? Did that mean he was serious about our relationship? Or was he going to marry me, but continue his affair with Loren?

No, he wouldn't do that. I have nothing to worry about.

Just then the phone rang. "Hello."

"Zane, it's me." It was Aster. Was he calling to tell me that he was about to get on his plane? He was supposed to be back tomorrow morning. "I was just calling to let you know that I have to stay another night. Pegasus requesting a meeting with me so I won't be home until the day after tomorrow around nine in the evening."

Oh. "Well, okay. I hope things go well. How was the rest of the convention?"

"I really can't talk right now. I only had a moment to call and let you know. I love you."

"I- I love you too." Then he hung up. What was he doing that was so important? Was he really meeting with Pegasus tomorrow? Or was that just an excuse? Was anything Aster said actually true anymore?


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Aster POV

I honestly didn't want to stay in San Francisco another day. But the meeting with Pegasus did go incredibly well. He didn't mention a sponsorship but he seemed to like me. We ended up talking about the Gordon family. He'd met Dana a few times, which didn't surprise me, and we talked about her for a while. But then he asked if I knew her brothers as well. I told him about how I had met them, but I didn't ever really talk to them. Matthew lives in London and really only ever talked to Jason and Dana. Jason was living the family life with his wife but none of us ever really saw him. But when I left he did ask if we could meet again sometime soon. Of course, I agreed.

I sat back in my plane seat as Loren was spouting off something next to me. "Loren, please, can I go twelve hours without having to worry about my career. I just want to get home to my fiance and rest for the weekend."

And that was that. The flight was incredibly dull. I slept most of the time. It was well needed sleep. But unfortunately, our flight landed later than scheduled, but maybe if we hurried I could still get home on time and see Zane.

That hope was quickly shot down when it took over an hour to get our luggage. The airline sent us all to the wrong baggage claim and then misplaced the carts with all the bags. It was a great inconvenience to everyone on the flight.

Then after all that, we couldn't get a cab hailed and the one that we did get misheard what Loren said and took us to the complete other side of Domino City. By that time it was 10:30 and I was already late. I got out of the cab having thrown money at the driver even though I shouldn't have paid him at all. I started my way away from the car only to have Loren chase after me with all our luggage.

"Aster, wait. Aster, please."

"Loren, I am an hour and a half late. I need to get home now." I didn't even stop walking.

"Call another cab. You'll get home sooner."

"I have had quite enough of-" I was stopped when a curb got in my way. I tripped and fell on the concrete. I sat up checked myself for injuries. There weren't any, but the shoulder of my suit jacket had been torn and the button had been pulled off. I looked up and glared at Loren. I wouldn't have fallen if he hadn't distracted me. "I'll find my own way home, Loren." I stood up and took my bag from him. "I'll talk to you on Monday. And don't think of calling me before. I want one uninterrupted weekend with my fiance."

I left him there on the corner as I found my own way home. Walking few blocks had made me calm down a little and I realized Loren had a point in that it was better for me to call a cab. I hailed the first one that came around and gave them the address making sure that they knew exactly where to go. I looked at my watch as he pulled away. 11:00. Zane was sure not going to be happy.

Zane POV

11:00.

He said he'd be home at 9:00. And he's wasn't.

11:01.

I shouldn't be worried. I'm sure something just happened out of his control

11:02.

Calm down, Zane, calm down. He'f be home soon.

11:03.

"Where the hell is he?!" I pushed my mug off the counter. It shattered when it hit the tile floor. It didn't phase me. I held my head in my hands. Worthless thoughts ran through my head and tears stained my sleeve.

My head shot up from the counter. I wiped my eyes. There was no way I could be crying over this. I looked to the the clock one more time.

11:07.

What if something happened to him and he's not coming back? What if he's lying in a ditch crying for me but I can't hear him? What if he's lost and is to egotistic to ask for directions? What if he-

What if he's with him?

That Loren, his "manager."

He'd seen him most days. For meetings, for lunch. Hed started to see more of him than of me. God only knows what they actually did together. They were probably at his apartment doing...

"No!"

I screamed my thoughts. I collapsed on the floor. I brought my knees to my chest and hid my face from anyone who might be looking. The tears started to flow again, but this time, I didn't stop them. I had to ask myself the question eating away at my very being.

Was Aster cheating on me?

Was he getting bored of me?

What did I do to push him away?

I love him, and he loves me, or so he says. I look to my left hand. On my fourth finger was the dark silver ring Aster had gotten me for our engagement. I twist it from my finger and wipe my eyes to look at it better.

I couldn't bring myself to put it back on my finger, but I couldn't stop looking at it. This is the one thing that has me holding on to him. I move my arm and bring the ring to my lips. What did I do?

11:15.

The doorknob turned then

I jump up and run to the door. It opens before I can reach it. Aster walks through, looking exhausted. He looks to me and smiles. "Zane, you would not believe the night that I've had." He closed the door behind him and I got a look at his clothes. Torn and buttons missing.

What the hell had he been doing?

Aster POV

I walked towards Zane so that I could hug him after having not seen him for five days

Then Zane did something unexpected. He pushed away from me.

"Why is your suit ripped?" I assume he's referring to what the concrete did to my suit.

"Well, you see-" I start but he doesn't let me say anything else.

"And why is your hair all out of order? And why are you late? You're never late."

Zane was starting to scare me. He'd never gotten this angry with me. I was so surprised, I didn't say anything.

"What's your excuse Aster? Huh? What do you have to say?" His arms were crossed across his chest and he had a look of sheer anger on his face.

I sigh and stepped towards him. "Zane, I can explain." I reached out for him, but he pulled away.

Tears filled his eyes. "Don't touch me." It was almost inaudible.

"Zane, what's going on?" I took another step towards him and tried again.

"Don't touch me!" He screamed it this time. We stayed still for what seemed like hours before Zane moved. He turned his back to me and whispered something I couldn't hear.

"What is it Zane?" I finally managed to get to him and put my hand on his shoulder, but as soon as I made contact Zane spun around, causing my hand to fall from his shoulder.

"I said get out."

I heard what he said but I didn't want to believe it. I stared at him wide-eyed hoping he would break, but he never did.

"Zane what did I do?" I reached out to him for the millionth time but like all the other times, he dodged my touch.

We paused again. Then Zane walked forward and grabbed my wrist, hard. "Ow, Zane, that hurts!"

It seemed like he couldn't hear. He picked me up by the waist and dragged my to the door. I fought him with all that I had, but he was much stronger than me.

Eventually he made his way over the threshold and dropped me on the floor. I collapsed and couldn't find the strength to stand back up. I looked up at him. "Zane, please."

He gave me one last look filled with some emotion I couldn't recognize before he slammed the door, creating a barrier between the two of us. I found my strength to stand and crashed myself against the door. He had locked it.

"Zane, please open the door and talk to me." I heard nothing from the other side. I got desperate. "Zane! Please! I don't know what's wrong, but please tell me what's wrong." More silence. I pounded my fist against the door. I couldn't form any more words. The sobs radiating from my body were shaking my chest and I fell to my knees. My fist continued to pound at the piece of wood in hopes that this was all a dream, and that Zane would open the door and be my lover again.

But it wasn't a dream.

It was happening.

And Zane just kicked me out of our apartment.

My fist stopped pounding. I didn't want to accept the truth, but I had no strength left. I laid my head against the door. My sobs grew louder with the longing to see my love again.

I managed to get out one more sentence before my speech was lost: "I love you."

My hands fell from the wood to the floor and I felt something tighten around my finger. I looked to my hand and saw the silver ring. My engagement ring. Zane's way of saying he was going to love me forever

But what was I supposed to think now?

I was sitting there on the floor, begging Zane to let me into our home. A single tear fell from my face onto the ring. I worked quickly to remove the liquid before it ruined the metal.

After what we'd been through, we made a promise, a commitment to love and protect each other, through better or through worse. But now?

What happened next?

I guess I had no choice but to let Zane win.

The tears were flowing on their own now, falling from my face at unseen speeds. "I'll always love you Zane, and I hope that someday you can love me again." I said it louder this time hoping someone would hear, maybe even Zane.

I stood there for a long while, waiting for Zane to open the door.

He didn't.

I turned away from the door and without looking back, I walked slowly down the hall to the elevator.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Aster POV

I didn't know what to do after all that happened with Zane. Where was I going to go? Loren was all the way on the other side of the city. I didn't really want to see him anymore tonight anyway. Plus I did tell him not to call me until Monday.

So I thought about where I could possibly go. Of our group of friends . . . honestly I wasn't that close to any of them. I liked them, of course, but I probably would have been more distant from them had Zane not been close to them.

But there was one of them I felt a little closer to than the rest. When someone shares some of their darkest secrets with you, the two of you create a special bond that is not often matched.

Dana's apartment wasn't actually that far from mine . . . if it was even mine anymore. She lived the closest to us out of anyone. She lived alone but most days she spent with Hassleberry. Honestly I thought the two of them would be living together by now, but the two of them seemed to get along just fine.

I found myself at her building and soon at her door. I raised my hand to knock and the image of all that Zane said flashed through my mind again. Tears pulled at my eyes again, but I took a deep breath and held them back.

I knocked but as soon as I did the tears broke free. The motion was just too much like pounding on the door back at my apartment. I lost my balance and put my arm out to the wall to keep my self up. I put my hand over my mouth and closed my eyes as the door opened.

"Hello." She had obviously just been asleep, but was wide awake when she saw me. "Aster!" She grabbed my shoulders giving me some extra balance. "Aster, what's wrong?" She put her hand to my face and brought it up so she could she it. I opened my eyes, but her face was blurry through the tears.

"I, he, we . . ."

"Shh, Aster, it's okay. Come inside." She led me inside and helped me sit down on her couch. I was a complete mess. I couldn't even speak properly. This was not how tonight was supposed to go. Not at all. I was supposed to spend the weekend with Zane uninterrupted. And now what? I obviously did something to upset him, but what? I had no idea?

Dana was in the kitchen doing something. I wasn't really paying attention but then she sat down next to me. "Aster look at me." I did as she asked and I felt her push a cloth against my face. She was cleaning my face, probably because of the tears. It was cool and comfortable against my feverishly hot face. "After you calm down, I want you to tell me what happened."

It took several minutes before I did calm down. During that time, I had several heaving sobs that made my breath irregular and more tears that Dana cleaned. I sat back against the couch and curled up bringing my knees to my chest as I thought about what to say, if I could even speak at all.

"I . . . Zane . . ."

"What happened with Zane? Is he okay?"

I didn't know. "He kicked me out."

"What! What do you mean? What happened?"

"I don't know what got into him." I found my ability to speak. "My flight got in late, then I got stuck at baggage claim and had trouble with the taxi driver and I got home two hours late and Zane . . . got really angry with me and I don't know why. And then he forced me out of the apartment."

I hid my head between my knees unable to cry anymore. Dana didn't seem to have anything to say. I felt he get up off the couch and when she came back, I heard the click of phone keys. I looked up and saw her dialing a number. "Dana, who are you calling?"

"Zane." I shot forward and took the phone from her.

"No, please don't."

"The two of you have a problem and nothing is going to get solved if you two don't talk to each other."

"Please. I don't think either of us are in a position to talk in a civilized manner."

She sighed. "Okay. But promise me you'll talk to him soon. You can stay here until this all gets sorted out. But all I can offer is the couch. Bastion is staying in my guest room."

Bastion? I was curious, but not enough to ask. "Thanks, Dana." I gave the phone back to her.

"Why don't you go take a shower and get out of your torn suit. It'll help you feel better. I have some of Kenzan's extra clothes. They are going to be huge on you, but it's all I have."

She was a saint. She did all she could for all of us. "That's more than enough." She went to her bedroom and I showed myself to the bathroom. I looked in the mirror and got a good look at myself. I was a mess. My hair was completely unkempt and my eyes were red where they should have been white.

I shrugged off my ruined jacket and set it on the counter. I took off my tie and unbuttoned my shirt. After I pulled it off, there was a knock on the door. That was probably Dana with the clothes. I didn't bother to put my shirt back on before opening the door.

"I have some clothes for you. And if you want me to take your jacket, I can." I handed it to her. I had no use for it anymore. She handed me a stacked pile of folded clothes and a towel.

"Thanks."

She smiled and walked away and I closed the door behind me. I got in the shower and let the hot water wash over me for a few minutes. It did actually help me relax physically, but in my mind I was only replaying what happened with Zane over and over again.

There was nothing I could do about it and that was one of the worst feelings. I wanted to know what was going on with Zane, but tonight I could only rest. I got out of the shower and dried myself off with the towel. I pulled on the pajamas but had an incredibly difficult time making them fit. I knew Hassleberry was a big guy, but I had no idea just how big. Maybe I was just incredibly small. I finally got them to fit in an acceptable manner, even if the shirt was hanging off one shoulder, and left the bathroom. Dana was on the couch with a sewing needle fixing the hole in my jacket.

"Dana, what are you doing?"

She looked up at me. "I figured it wasn't beyond fixing so I thought I'd try sewing it so that maybe you could wear it again."

I smiled. "That's really nice of you." Next to her was another pile of blanket and a pillow.

"I'll fix this in my room. You get some sleep."

I took my place on the couch and covered myself with the blanket. It was a small comfort. But at least I knew I had at least one friend who was willing to help me in this situation.

Zane POV

"I love you." It was a muffled voice, but I definitely heard it. Aster. Aster said that. Maybe I had this all wrong. Maybe I overreacted and I just made up all of that. He could have had a real problem getting home. I should have actually listened to him.

I opened the door to let him back in, but her was gone. I looked down both halls and there was no sign of him.

Where did he go? I guess he didn't want to see me again. After the way I acted, I didn't blame him. But I heard him ask to be let in. Why would he have left if he wanted to come back in?

Was he going to back to . . . Loren?

Maybe I hadn't actually overreacted. Of course. That was the only explanation for this. He was the type of person to run away from problems. So why was he gone now if not to go be with him?

I couldn't believe this was happening now. I wasn't sure if I could ever forgive Aster for this.

The next day I met Atticus for lunch. He wanted to ask me some advice. He didn't' say what about, but I figured I could help my best friend. At least I still had him even if I didn't have my fiance anymore.

He didn't say much when I first saw him, which was really unlike him. I didn't know exactly what was up with him, but I knew he was different lately. Neither of really said anything.

Eventually he broke the silence. "So, I was wondering if you could give me some relationship advice. I know you and Aster have great relationship, so I thought that maybe you could help me out."

I hadn't told him that my relationship with Aster wasn't all that great anymore. But maybe I could help him.

"I made a mistake, Zane, and it's really hurting Bastion. I want to make it up to him and I want him to forgive me. I don't know what it's like to have a real relationship. Sure I dated a few girls back at Duel Academy, but none of those were ever serious. Bastion was the first person I ever actually cared about and I had to go and ruin it. And now he won't even stay long enough to listen to me."

He didn't actually say what his mistake was, but I figured he didn't want to talk about it. What advice could I offer him? This sounded a lot like what I was going through with Aster.

"Atticus, I . . . I don't know what to tell you. Honestly, Aster and I are in the middle of a rough time. I think he may have . . . found someone else."

"Zane! What! Aster would never do something like that. He loves you too much. He agreed to marry you."

"Well he's been gone more and more often. And he's come home late a lot of times. Where is spending all his time?"

"He could really just be running into problems. Talk to him Zane. I'm sure he can explain everything. He wouldn't do that to you. You'll get through this. Just tell him what you feel. Don't hold back anything. You can't sort out the issues if you never address them."

He was right. I had to give Aster a chance to explain himself. Once I got his side of the story, I could make a decision.

"God, he's going to hate me. He's not going to want to talk to me."

'You never know until you try."

"Okay. I'll try. You know, Atticus, maybe follow some of your own advice. Talk to Bastion. Force him to listen. It might be hard for him to hear what you have to say, but he's a smart guy. You'll make it through this."

He looked surprised having answered his own question. He smiled and we spent the rest of lunch talking about something else to distract us from all of the things going on in our relationships.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Aster POV

I woke up in the afternoon the next day to the sound of voices. I guess Dana didn't want to wake me and I'd slept well through the day. I opened my eyes and I vaguely made out Dana and Hassleberry in the kitchen. I guess she told him what was going on. I sat up on the couch and rubbed my sore eyes, drawing attention to myself. The two of them looked up.

"Aster, you're finally up. I thought you'd wake up soon, so I made you some breakfast."

I walked over to the table and began to eat. I couldn't help but notice the look on Hassleberry's face. It was one of what looked like pity. I really didn't need him feeling sorry for me.

"I told Kenzan about what happened." I nodded. I figured there was no need to tell her that I'd figured that out already.

"I think you need to talk to him, Aster." Hassleberry agreed with what Dana said yesterday.

"I know. I will, I just don't know what's going on with him. I'm going to call Loren. Maybe he knows something."

She nodded and the two of them got up. "We're going out. Stay here as long as you want. There's no rush to leave."

The two of them left her apartments leaving me to sit at the table by myself to think about what happened last night. Something was up with Zane and I doubted he wanted to talk to me. I told Dana I would talk to him to set her mind at ease, but what was I supposed to do? Zane forced me out of our apartment without telling me what was going on, but it was obvious he didn't want to see me. I had no one to turn to right now.

Well I guess I did have Loren.

I stood up, put my plate in the sink and took my cell phone out of my pocket. I dialed the number and waited to hear him pick up.

"Hello?"

"Hey, I know I said not to talk to me until Monday, but I need to ask you about something."

"Aster, I'm here. What's wrong? It sounded urgent."

He hadn't even taken off his coat before rambling off all that.

"Just sit down, Loren, I'll tell you everything." He rushed to the couch while I straggled after him. He was on edge and was anxious to hear what I had to tell him. I sat down next to him as I let out a sigh. "Zane kicked me out of our apartment last night."

"He what?"

I figured he'd react the same way everyone else did. "I don't know why. Maybe it has something to do with all the time I have been spending away from home. I shouldn't have gone to all those events."

I hung my head in my hands and neither of us said anything. I felt Loren's hand on my shoulder. "This isn't all bad."

I looked up at him, shocked. "Isn't bad? Loren, I very well may have lost the only person I have ever truly loved and all you have to say is it's not bad?"

"Well, Aster," his face was changing and I was getting concerned. It was a face I had never seen from him before and I had no idea what he was thinking. "You have me." He pushed closer to me and in the process he pushed me down so I was laying on my back.

"Loren, what are you . . ."

"Shh, Aster. We both know that there is something going on between us." What the hell was he talking about? "It'll be some much easier for us now that Zane is out of the picture." He crashed his lips against mine. I pushed against his shoulders to push him off. It was an uncomfortable feeling. It felt wrong. The only person who was ever supposed to kiss me was was Zane.

I threw him off of me and wiped off my mouth with my the sleeve of Hassleberry's shirt. "What the hell Loren? What do you think you're doing?"

"Zane is no good and he will only bring you down. You need someone who will love you no matter what. I love you, Aster. That's the reason I wanted to become your manager."

This was not how this was supposed to go at all. I've never once thought any of this could happen with Loren. He was supposed to be just my manager. He knows how to get things done and all the strings to pull. Sure he may have scheduled a lot of events, but he . . .

Wait.

Was he scheduling that many things on purpose? To pull me away from Zane?

"Loren, all those events that pulled me away from Zane . . ."

"Were to make you see that you should really be spending all your time with me. I am perfect for you, Aster, and it would be so much easier if you would just realize that."

"No. Zane is the one I love. I would do anything for him and if I had known the real reason I had to go to all those stupid things I never would have gone. If I have to give up my career to be with Zane for the rest of my life I will."

I stood up from the couch to put as much distance between myself and this person who I didn't even know anymore.

"Aster, you're just confused. Zane doesn't love you. If he did he wouldn't have kicked you out."

"If you hadn't concocted this whole scheme to put false thoughts in his mind, he wouldn't have!" I couldn't believe it. This whole thing was Loren's fault. He was supposed to be a great asset to my future. He was one of the best in the business. And he was only using me and destroying my relationship with Zane. "Ever since I met you, I have been spending more and more time away from my fiance. We can work through this as long as I explain just what you've done."

He laughed. "I don't see that happening. But, hey, it'll be fun. But when he rejects you and you come crawling back to me, I will have the grace enough to not say I told you so. Then we can begin our life together."

He stepped toward me again but I shoved him backwards, completely livid. "There is nothing that will hold me away from Zane. You have no idea what he and I have been through together and you can't just waltz into my life expecting things to just fall apart for everyone while you take what you want."

His face was finally changing to show fear. "I have to win my fiance back. And then I never want to see you again. You're fired. Now get out."

"Aster, I would never turn on you." He reached out again but I grabbed his shirt collar bringing him down to my eye level and scowled.

"Do not make me repeat myself." I threw him to the door. "You disgust me." I turned away from him, half expecting him to say something, but I only heard the door open and close behind me and when I turned around, he was gone.

Now I had to make sure that Zane wasn't gone.

Zane POV

I laid on the couch after getting back from lunch with Atticus. I had no idea what to think any more. Could I trust Aster? Was he going behind my back? I Really had no idea anymore, and if I tried to talk to him about it, I doubt he'd even want to see me.

Then there was a knock on my door. I shoot up. Aster? Was he coming back to talk this this through? I had to find out.

I opened the door and before I could say anything I felt a slap across my face.

"What are you thinking Zane?"

I held my face as I looked at who was standing there. It was Dana and Hassleberry, the former looking like she wanted to kill me and the latter trying to calm her down.

"Dana, I don't know what you're talking about." She let herself in and Hassleberry followed after her.

"You kicked Aster out of your apartment. He came to mine last night completely destroyed. He couldn't even stand properly. Why would you do that to him?" She moved to slap me again, but Hassleberry held her back.

"I- I-" I had no idea what to say. I had no idea what to even think.

"You have found something perfect and you're just going to throw it away? He loves you. He would give up his career for you. He's already lost his father, why would he give you up as well?"

I knew the only reason I wasn't getting hit repeatedly was because Hassleberry wasn't letting her near me.

"I don't know." I collapsed on the couch and put my head in my hands. "I made a mistake. I acted without thinking. I made up a stupid reality that I don't even know is true, and I let myself believe it. I would understand if he never wanted to see me again after the way I acted."

"You are going to talk this through with him. Right now."

"Dana, he's not going to want to see me, let alone talk to me. He probably hates me."

"Why don't you let me decide that for myself?"

The three of us turned towards the doorway to see Aster standing there wearing pajamas that were too big for him. He came back? Was he going to break up with me officially now?

"Dana, Hassleberry, will you let me be alone with Zane for now?"

Dana obviously wanted to stay and yell at me some more and put me back into my place, but she did as she was asked. She pulled herself from Hassleberry's grip on her shoulders and walked out of the apartment leaving us alone.

Aster closed the door behind him once they were gone and turned towards me. Neither of us said anything. Neither of us even moved.

We only looked at each other unable to determine what the other was thinking. I only wanted to know what was going through his mind right now and if I still had a chance at keeping him. I looked away, not knowing what to say. It was possible I had lost him forever and after this I could never see him again.

I heard a sharp intake of breath and looked at Aster as he began to speak. "I fired Loren." What did that have to do with anything. "I found out that he'd been scheduling all those events because he was trying to tear us apart. He told me he was in love with me and he wanted to steal me away from you."

Was that the reason he was so bitter whenever he talked to me? He hated me? I never thought he was in love with Aster. I only thought he wanted to work with Aster because of his ranking the pro dueling league.

"So, does that mean you weren't cheating on me?"

He looked surprised. "Cheating? Zane, is that what you were thinking?" He stepped towards me and sat on the coffee table in front of me. Zane, I would never do that. I love you. I made a promise to you." He held up his left hand slightly. "A promise to love you until the end of my days and nothing is going to change that."

God, I was so stupid. I should have listened to what he had to say and we could have avoided all of this. He reached out for me hand. "Zane. You made a promise. You promised me the rest of your life. You told me you loved me, but if there was anything I did to make you unable to keep your promise, then . . . Then I guess I have to walk away. If you want me to walk away and never see you again, I will, because I love you and I only want you to be happy."

I could tell he was using so much of his strength to hold back tears. I put his face in my hand. "Aster, I don't want you going anywhere ever again. I was stupid and I almost lost you because of it. I'm not going to let that happen again. Not this time. I love you Aster. And I intend to keep my promise."

I kissed him and that was when I knew we wouldn't let anything else come between us ever again. We promised each other our lives and it was one we fully intended on keeping.

"I am so sorry, Aster. So so sorry. I hope that you can forgive me."

"Of course I forgive you, Zane. I love you. Nothing will ever change that."

He put his forehead against mine. I could not express just how I felt in that moment but I knew that it was all going to be okay. Now and from now on. I would never doubt him ever again. I couldn't risk losing him ever again.

A promise is a promise and I won't ever break a promise Aster again.

We didn't want to wait anymore. We had our wedding a month later: April 5. It was only a small wedding. Our friends and my parents. Dana asked if she could invite Matthew and Jason, and though I wasn't sure, Aster insisted. Matthew couldn't make the trip out from London, but Jason, being so close, did, and he also brought along his wife.

The ceremony ended and the reception was well underway. We sat at a table with the wedding party, Atticus, my best man, on my right. We got our congratulations from our friends and then, when the tradition of cutting the cake was done, we got it from everyone else.

Aster and I talked to my parents as well and Syrus and Alexis. Aster had met my parents once before, but it was a short meeting.

"Zane, you have a wonderful man here. Make sure you don't let him go." My mother gets easily excitable.

I took his hand in mine. "I certainly don't plan on it."

We talked to Syrus and Alexis a little longer, mainly for my sake. Aster really didn't like Alexis all that much, but he put up with it for a few minutes.

"Well, Aster, looks like we're brothers in law now."

He smiled at Syrus' observation. "Yeah I guess we are."

When we were done talking to the two of them, we were greeted by Jason and his wife, Jenna. She was hanging off his left arm in a slightly overbearing matter. This was actually the first time I had met her and I wasn't too impressed. Honestly I didn't think she was the type of girl Jason would like, but then again, I didn't know him all that well either.

"Congratulations, Zane, Aster." He shook both our hands. "You'll love married life. I certainly do." He smiled at his wife and she smiled back.

"Thank you Jason." Jason was one of those people who was simple, but in a good way. I saw a lot of similarities between him and Dana, which was a pleasant thing.

The reception ended and Aster and I went off to our honeymoon. We chose to go up to my family's cabin for a week.

We sat under the oak tree, the only light being that of the moon. Neither of us said anything. Aster laid against my chest holding my hand. I wouldn't have had it any other way.

I knew that the two of us could make it through anything together as long as we stayed strong and never doubted each other. We had the rest of our lives ahead of us and I couldn't wait what we were going to do next. We were prepared for any obstacle life threw at us because there was nothing we couldn't overcome.


End file.
